Privacy Statement

South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb)
provides NHS care and treatment for people living in South East
England, and as a Trust we:

Receive and respond to 999
calls from members of the public

Receive and respond to 111
calls from members of the public

Receive and respond to
requests received through the NHS 111 Online Service

Respond to urgent calls from
healthcare professionals e.g. GPs

We provide these services across the majority
of the South East Coast region of Kent Medway, Surrey and Sussex.
We aim to provide you with the highest quality care and in order to
do this, we must keep records about you and the care we provide for
you.

Health records are held on paper and
electronically. We have a legal duty to keep these confidential,
accurate and secure at all times in line with data protection
laws.

We maintain high standards, adopt best
practice for our record keeping and regularly check and report on
how we are doing. Your information is never collected for
direct marketing purposes, and is not sold on to any other third
parties. Your information is not processed overseas.

Sometimes your care may be provided by members
of a care team, which might include people from other organisations
such as health; social care; education; or other care
organisations. Information is held for specified periods of
time as set out in the Records Management Code of Practice for
Health and Social Care 2016.

Information collected about you to deliver
your healthcare is also used to assist with:

Making sure your care is of a
high standard.

Using statistical
information to look after the health and wellbeing of the general
public and planning services to meet the needs of the
population.

Assessing your condition
against a set of risk criteria to ensure you are receiving the best
possible care.

Preparing statistics on our
performance for the Department of Health and other regulatory
bodies.

Helping train staff and
support research.

Supporting the funding of your
care.

Reporting and investigation of
complaints, claims and untoward incidents.

Reporting events to the
appropriate authorities when we are required to do so by law.

Testing / implementing new
systems or processes. In such instances we will ensure that
anonymised or minimal patient information is used.

The legal basis for the processing of data for
these purposes is that the NHS is an official authority with a
public duty to care for its patients, as guided by the Department
of Health and data protection law. It is appropriate to do so for
health and social care treatment of patients, and the management of
health or social care systems and services.

Some of your information will also be shared
with NHS Digital to improve NHS 111 and 999 services, the
information received through their intelligence data tool consists
of outcome data which is not identifiable.

If we need to use your personal information
for any reason beyond those stated above, we will discuss this with
you. You have the right to ask us not to use your information
in this way.

However, there are exceptions to this which
are listed below.

The public interest is thought to be of
greater importance for example:
- If a serious crime has been committed
- If there are risks to the public or our staff
- To protect vulnerable children or adults

We have a legal duty, for example registering
births, reporting some infectious diseases, wounding by firearms
and court orders

We need to use the information for medical
research. We have to ask permission from the Confidentiality
Advisory Group (appointed by the NHS Health Research
Authority)

Data protection laws give individuals rights
in respect of the personal information that we hold about
you.

These are:

To be informed why, where and how we use your
information.

To ask for access to your information.

To ask for your information to be corrected
if it is inaccurate or incomplete.

To ask for your information to be deleted or
removed where there is no need for us to continue processing
it.

To ask us to restrict the use of your
information.

To ask us to copy or transfer your
information from one IT system to another in a safe and secure way,
without impacting the quality of the information.

To object to how your information is
used.

To challenge any decisions made without human
intervention (automated decision making).

2. SEC NHS 111
service

NHS 111 is the NHS non-emergency telephone
number which allows people to speak to a team of fully trained
advisers, supported by experienced nurses and paramedics. This
service is provided by SECAmb in Sussex, North Kent, West Kent and
Medway.

During contact you will be asked a series of
questions to assess your symptoms and will be immediately directed
to the best medical care for you. The service is used in instances
where urgent medical help or advice is needed but it's not a
life-threatening situation such as:

You need medical help fast
but it's not a 999 emergency

You think you need to go to
A&E or need another NHS urgent care service

You don't know who to call
or you don't have a GP to call

You need health information or
reassurance about what to do next

Where possible, the NHS 111 team will book you
an appointment or transfer you directly to the people you need to
speak to. Calls to NHS 111 are recorded and all calls and the
records created are maintained securely.

Information recorded during the call will be
shared with other health professionals directly involved in your
care, this also includes the 999 service should this be clinically
needed.

NHS 111 Online

The NHS 111 online service allows individuals
to refer themselves to the NHS 111 telephone service based on
certain assessment outcomes. When you use NHS 111 online the
personal information you provide is automatically passed through to
the NHS 111 service.

This service presents patients with a range of
questions relating to their health which is then forwarded together
with their personal details to the healthcare service selected,
should the individual (or the person you are contacting them about)
choose to be referred. The information received is then held within
the NHS 111 telephone service.

These records may include:

Basic details about you, such
as your name, address, date of birth, next of kin,

Contact we have previously
had with you.

Notes and reports about your
health, treatment and care.

Relevant information from
people who care for you for example, other Health

Professionals and
relatives.

By agreeing to NHS 111 online you are also
agreeing that your personal data can be forwarded to us so that we
can provide your care.

Your completed notes will be passed onto your
GP or healthcare provider to ensure your continuity of care. This
will also ensure that there is a full record of your care held
centrally.

You are able to object to this sharing of data
as we have an obligation to consider the Common Law Duty of
Confidentiality, however, if we feel that not sharing the data
would cause you serious harm we will consider your vital interests.
This will be fully explained to you at the end of each period of
care.

It is essential that your details are accurate
and up-to-date. Always check that your personal details are correct
and please inform us of any changes as soon as possible.

3. Confidentiality
affects everyone and is everyone’s responsibility.

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS
Foundation Trust (SECAmb) captures, stores and uses large amounts
of personal data every day. For example, we collect data about your
contact with us, our employees, and the contracts we have with our
suppliers.

Our staff, and the agencies we work with to
provide healthcare, use this data in the course of their work.
Please see section 7 for further information.

We have a duty to protect your personal
information and confidentiality and we take our responsibilities
very seriously. We are committed to taking all reasonable measures
to ensure the confidentiality and security of personal data,
whether it is in digital form or on paper.

Everyone working for SECAmb must comply with
data protection legislation and the Common Law Duty of Confidence.
Information you provide to us will be used in confidence and only
for the purposes explained to you and to which you consented,
unless there are other circumstances covered by the law.

SECAmb complies with the NHS Confidentiality
Code of Conduct. All our staff are required to protect your
information, inform you of how your information will be used, and
allow you to decide if and how your information can be shared.

SECAmb has a designated “Caldicott Guardian”,
who is responsible for the management of patient information and
confidentiality and a designated Senior Information Risk Owner
(SIRO) who is responsible for ensuring the robust management of all
information assets, any associated risks and incidents that
occur.

Both of these roles are undertaken by senior
members of the Trust Board.

4. Why do we collect information about
you?

The doctors, nurses and team of healthcare
professionals caring for you keep records about your health and any
treatment and care you receive. These records help to ensure that
you receive the most appropriate care. They may be written in paper
records or held on computer.

Telephone calls to the NHS 111 service are
recorded for the following purposes:

To make sure that staff act
in compliance with Trust procedures.

To ensure quality
control.

For training, monitoring and
service improvement

5. How is your personal information
used?

Your records are used to direct, manage and
deliver the care you receive to ensure that:

The doctors, nurses and other
healthcare professionals involved in your care have accurate and up
to date information to assess your health and decide on the most
appropriate care for you.

Healthcare professionals
have the information they need to be able to assess and improve the
quality and type of care you receive.

Your concerns can be
properly investigated if a complaint is raised.

Appropriate information is
available if you see another healthcare professional, or are
referred to a specialist or another service of the NHS or other
agency connected with your care.

6. The NHS Care Record
Guarantee

The Care Record Guarantee is our commitment
that we will use records about you in ways that respect your rights
and promote your health and wellbeing.

Everyone working within the NHS has a legal
duty to keep information about you confidential. Similarly, anyone
who receives information from us has a legal duty to keep it
confidential.

Unless you tell us not to, we will share
information with the following main partner organisations:

Other NHS Trusts and
hospitals that are involved in your care.

NHS commissioners and other
NHS regulatory bodies.

General Practitioners
(GPs).

Other Ambulance Services.
This also includes our counterparts within the SECAmb 999
service

GP led services – e.g. Out of
Hours

You may also be receiving care from other
people as well as the NHS, for example Social Care Services. If we
have your permission, we may also share information about you, so
that you receive the best possible care, with:

Social Care Services.

Education Services.

Local Authorities.

Voluntary and private sector
providers working with the NHS.

Unless the sharing is specifically related to
the direct provision of healthcare we will not
share your information with anyone without your explicit
permission. The only exception to this may be if the health and
safety of others is at risk, or if the law requires us to pass on
information.

8. Disclosure of
information

Patient right to object to
processing/opt-out

You have the right to restrict how and with
whom we share the personal information in your records that
identifies you.

There are choices you can make about how your
information is used, and you can choose to opt out of your
information being shared or used for any purpose beyond providing
your care. This must be noted explicitly within your records
in order that all healthcare professionals and staff treating and
involved with you are aware of your decision.

Please note that not choosing to share your
information may have an impact on your care and by sharing your
information it will improve NHS services and the experience of
treatment and care for our patients.

If you do not wish to share your information,
then please inform the 111 Service when you contact them. They will
then mark your non-disclosure against your current call although
any previous calls on record cannot be amended.

You can change your mind at any time about a
disclosure decision.

9. How your personal information is
used to improve the NHS

When you contact the NHS 111 service you will
be asked during the greeting message you hear as you are connected
to the service whether you consent to your information being shared
with other NHS organisations.

Unless you tell the call handler otherwise
your information may be shared.

Your information will be used to help us
manage the NHS and protect the health of the public by being used
to:

Review the care we provide to
ensure it is of the highest standard and quality.

Ensure our services can meet
patients’ needs in the future.

Investigate patient queries,
complaints, incidents and legal claims.

Prepare statistics on NHS
performance, this does not include patient identifiable data.

Audit NHS accounts and
services.

Undertaking heath research
and development (with your consent - you may choose whether or not
to be involved).

Help to train and educate
healthcare professionals.

10. Risk stratification

There are instances where your GP may use your
data / information to ensure that they provide the best care for
you. Your consent to share this information would already
have been recorded as part of your consultation with the NHS 111
service.

As part of this process, your GP will use your
personal and health data to undertake risk stratification, also
known as case finding.

Risk stratification involves applying computer
based algorithms, or calculations, to identify those patients
registered with the GP surgery who are most at risk from certain
medical conditions and who will benefit from clinical care to help
prevent or better treat their condition.

To identify those patients individually from
the patient community registered with your GP would be a lengthy
and time-consuming process, which would by its nature potentially
not identify individuals quickly and increase the time to improve
care.

Your GP surgery uses the services of an
authorised health partner, NHS Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) to
identify those most in need of preventative or improved
care.

Neither the GP surgery nor the CSU will at any
time have access to your personal or confidential data. The CSU
acts on behalf of your GP Surgery to organise this service with
appropriate contractual and security measures only. However, your
GP practice will still continue to hold your individual patient
record.

The CSU will then automatically process your
personal and confidential data without any staff being able to view
the data. Typically, they will process your data using indicators
such as your age, gender, NHS number and codes for your medical
health to identify those who will benefit from clinical
intervention / involvement.

The processing of this information takes place
automatically and without human or manual handling. Your GP is then
able to view the outcome, matching results against patients on
their system.

There are strict security controls in place to
protect your confidentiality. However, if you wish, you can request
that your data is not to be processed for this purpose and the 111
service will mark your record as not to be extracted so that
information is not sent to the CSU for risk stratification
purposes.

The lawful basis to use this information for
risk stratification has been allowed by s251 NHS Act 2006 and is
processed by the CSU or other approved providers only.

11. How you can access your
records

Data protection legislation gives you a right
to access the information we hold about you on our records. Details
of the information you are requesting are needed, this should
include full name, the type of information this relates to and the
approximate date.

The Trust will provide your information to you
within one month from receipt of the request. There is no fee
payable for this service.

Alternatively call us between 9.30am
and 4pm, Monday to Friday, (not including Bank Holidays) on 0300
1239 242.

If you think any information in your records
is inaccurate or incorrect, please let us know.

12. Data Controller and Data
Protection Officer

SECAmb is a registered Data Controller with
the Information Commissioner’s Office and has a Data Protection
Officer, responsible for ensuring your confidential information if
kept safe and secure.

Should you have any further queries on the
uses of your information, please speak to your health professional
or alternatively contact our Patient Experience Manager or Data
Protection Officer – Caroline Smart, Head of Information
Governance.

Should you wish to lodge a complaint about the
use of your information, please contact our Patient Experience Team
at:

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS
Foundation Trust (SECAmb) is committed to protecting your privacy,
in accordance with Data Protection legislation and will not use any
information we may hold about you for any purpose other than that
for which it was collected.

Patient information
leaflets

While the information contained in our patient
information leaflets has been written and checked by our clinical
teams, they are intended to complement the advice of professional
healthcare staff only. They should not be used without appropriate
medical advice.

Procedures should only be undertaken by
healthcare professionals and SECAmb will not be liable for injury,
loss or financial impairment as a result of actions taken by
individuals after reading the materials.

If you have any questions, please contact your
GP or consultant. Both NHS 111 and the NHS website provide a wealth
of health information.

All material on this website, including text,
graphics and photographs, is copyright of SECAmb unless otherwise
stated.

Text and graphics may be freely reproduced for
the purpose of personal, educational or private research use.
However, all text and graphics, including photographs and the
SECAmb logo, contained in the website are not authorised for any
purposes unless permission is first obtained from SECAmb.